“I think the First Amendment is a little more important than traffic.”

With those words, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio vigorously defended #FloodWallStreet, the Occupy-style climate civil disobedience action that took place Monday on Wall Street.

De Blasio’s remarks came in a press conference after he addressed the United Nations climate summit on Tuesday.

Asked if he thought “the protests are at all going too far,” de Blasio expressed his disagreement.

No, I can’t say they’re going too far. I think, first of all, the issue is one of tremendous urgency and whenever you have an urgent issue, people utilize civil disobedience. It’s not a new phenomenon. I thought, clearly, we had a situation where it was civil disobedience as it’s supposed to be, meaning it was peaceful, the police handled it beautifully, and those who really wanted to get arrested got arrested. That was their choice. They were given every opportunity to not get arrested, but they chose to. But I think these are the kind of issues that bring out incredibly strong passions and they should – this is about the survival of the earth.

“The right of people to make their voices heard, regardless of their views, is a fundamental American value,” de Blasio continued. “And we’ll protect that value. I think there’s going to be times, in this city – because we’re an international capital – where we’ll see protests that create inconvenience, but again, it’s part of our responsibility as the hosts of the United Nations to handle that appropriately.”

De Blasio was similarly forceful in his support for the People’s Climate March, in which he participated. “This is not the first time you’ve seen a scenario where the people are leading and the leaders have to get out of the way and follow the will of the people,” he said. “I think there’s been a bad stereotype in public debate that the policy-makers have to somehow pull the people along and the people were unwilling to make change. I actually think the people – years ago – recognized what a profound threat the earth faces and are very comfortable that we have to make change and are ready to do what it takes.”

Transcript:

Question: Mr. Mayor, I’m wondering what you think of – you know, yesterday we went into a second day of demonstrations on the street about climate change, about this issue – I’m wondering what you think about the momentum maybe behind this as a motivating issue for voters, for residents of New York City, and maybe around the world?

Mayor: I think there’s tremendous movement at the grassroots. The march Sunday was extraordinary. What we saw – parallel marches around the world – suggests something is really gelling, that we’re reaching a critical-mass moment on this issue in terms of public opinion. And this is not the first time you’ve seen a scenario where the people are leading and the leaders have to get out of the way and follow the will of the people. I think it’s galloping forward now. So this gathering today is crucially important, but I actually think the march set the stage even more powerfully by suggesting that the grassroots are already there. I think there’s been a bad stereotype in public debate that the policy-makers have to somehow pull the people along and the people were unwilling to make change. I actually think the people – years ago – recognized what a profound threat the earth faces and are very comfortable that we have to make change and are ready to do what it takes. So I think those marches are going to prove to be decisive.

Question: What did you think of the tenor of yesterday’s demonstration on climate change? You know, it seems a little bit more anti-establishment, I guess, than the day before.

Mayor: Which piece? Are you talking about Occupy?

Question: Yeah. Yeah.

Mayor: Look, I think Occupy has an approach and, you know, I respect them and their message, but they have a different approach than a lot of other people. What I was particularly pleased with yesterday is I thought the NYPD did a fantastic job allowing the protesters to make their point, but handling the situation with a lot of flexibility and restraint. And it ended up, obviously, with very few arrests and very little conflict. So I think Occupy was consistent with its previous tradition, but the NYPD, consistent with how they have handled Occupy in the past, did a great job of striking the right balance. On topic, last call. Going once – yes –

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: You were too fast. On topic, going once.

Question: Mr. Mayor –

Mayor: Going twice. On topic?

Question: Yeah. Piggy-backing off that, I think, last I checked – 102 arrests yesterday. Do you think these protests are at all going too far or is that just kind of something to be expected, in your mind, with a protest of this magnitude?

Mayor:
On topic, last call. Going once – on topic –

Question: Following up on that, so future protests – you know, I mean, they clogged up a lot of traffic. Are you ok with that? And what happens in the future, when protests want to do something –

Mayor: First of all, I think the First Amendment is a little more important than traffic. The right of people to make their voices heard, regardless of their views, is a fundamental American value. And we’ll protect that value. I think there’s going to be times, in this city – because we’re an international capital – where we’ll see protests that create inconvenience, but again, it’s part of our responsibility as the hosts of the United Nations to handle that appropriately. So, no, I think everything was done the right way. Obviously, as New Yorkers, we would like our streets to keep moving along, and we’re going to do everything we can to achieve that. But we have to respect peaceful protests.